Associate - Corporate Development, M&A and Strategy

Job Title

Associate - Corporate Development, M&A and Strategy

Job Description Summary

The EMEA corporate development team works closely with senior leaders of C&W to determine the companyâ™s growth strategy in the region and execute on key strategic priorities. Through a targeted and disciplined capital allocation strategy, the team aims to drive growth for C&W across all organic and inorganic channels, including M&A, Joint Ventures, Strategic Partnerships, programmatic recruitment initiatives, and team acquisitions. This team is also responsible for other core strategic initiatives such as investments, divestitures, and platform rationalisations. Finally, the team also drives other initiatives and strategic projects with analysis and insight to facilitate senior managementâ™s decision-making. The key stakeholders of this team are the Firmâ™s CEO, CFO, and Business Leaders across the globe, providing members with unparalleled visibility and exposure across senior leadership of C&W in EMEA and globally. Our growing and developing project pipeline requires additional bandwidth to take on significant project responsibilities from origination/initiation to completion.

Job Description

Reporting to the EMEA Head of Strategy and Investments, this role provides execution support to C&Wâ™s Strategy, Investments, and M&A (SIMA) Team across M&A, investments, strategic projects, and other organic and inorganic growth initiatives through quantitative and qualitative analyses, such as financial and valuation modelling, company due diligence, strategic planning, and evaluation, as well as support in the project management of transactions. In addition, the role provides support for internal strategic projects and analysis to help EMEA business leaders drive these projects and enable improved, data-driven decision-making. The successful candidate will be able to demonstrate an ability to work independently and autonomously to drive success.

Key Accountabilities:

- Supporting the senior team members, this role will support the identification, assessment, and execution of potential M&A transactions and other strategic initiatives.
- Designing and constructing detailed financial/operating models and valuation analysis.
- Performing detailed market research and competitive analysis.
- Supporting and guiding stakeholders with all aspects of due diligence coordination, including identifying and quantifying sources of synergies and risk, and summarising findings for the senior executive team.
- Providing project management support for both M&A projects and key strategic initiatives to ensure timelines are met, responsibilities are effectively delegated, and progress is closely tracked.
- Conducting internal diagnostics and performance analytics to support internal projects aimed at ongoing efforts to optimise the business.
- Working with the team to support the board with meaningful and accurate materials outlining broader strategic priorities and specific initiatives addressing those.
- Developing and maintaining internal tools and processes for tracking and reporting on all pipeline activities of the team, including M&A and other projects.

Required Competencies:

- Strong, demonstrable analytical and quantitative skills.
- Strong presentational skills, both written and verbal.
- A self-motivated individual who can manage multiple projects simultaneously, with attention to detail and a sense of urgency.
- Intellectual curiosity combined with a strong work ethic and commitment/ownership.
- Team player with a positive attitude, excellent interpersonal/communication skills, and the ability to âœmanage up.â

Ideal Candidate Experience:

- Ideally, several years of experience at a top-tier investment bank, M&A boutique, or Big Four accountancy firm.

- Private equity and other buy-side experience would be a bonus.
- Experience with financial modelling and business analysis.
- Proven track record of excellence compared to peer group in prior roles.
- Demonstrated ability to work effectively in small deal teams.
- Exceptional stakeholder management skills, including board-level interaction.
- Willingness and flexibility to travel regionally and globally.
- Fluency in one or more European languages (in addition to fluency in English) is advantageous.

INCO: âœCushman & Wakefieldâ